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Magic
Magic is the fundament of all reality. It is the first of the various Planes of existence, the others being built upon it. The basic principle that governs this Plane is the movement of Arcane energy (although the terms energy is used loosely, since magic predates anything physical). The way magical power flows establishes the nature of physical objects, which in turn alter the flow of magic itself. Pulse is the adjective used to describe the weight of one's influence on the Flow, and it is determined by various factors, for example the complexity of an object (a sentient being generally has more pulse than an inanimate object). WITCHCRAFT Witchcraft, or sorcery, is the art of willingly manipulating the Flow of magic in order to alter reality. It can be performed in various ways, all of which can be learned and taught. Although actually mastering magic takes extensive training, everyone unknowingly influences its flow and is able to perform magic in some shape or form. * Arcane Paradigms: the usage of an arcane paradigm consists in drawing designs in the fabric of magic (ranging from simple circles to geometric stars and more complex mandalas) that are used as a guideline to channel its Flow. Every paradigm is a specific design with a specific purpose and they are usually invented by trial and error by expert mages (some even after years of studies). Since the fall of Ruhl-ye, humans have stopped creating new paradigms, and have instead only passed down existing ones for generations, to the point that most humans now learn them in a dogmatic way, without questioning the logic behind them and often using them in an approximate way. * Verbalization: similarly to the way that designs can channel magic, some sounds can do the same as they travel through the air. When carefully combined into words, these sounds can be used for spell-casting. * Curses: Curses are special types of spells. While a normal spell only works as long as its user keeps it active, curses create loops which continuously interfere with the flow of magic and keep it altered. Curses have to be tethered to an object (including people) and are extremely hard to both cast and break; few people actually reach the level of power required to create a curse, and most don't even come in contact with one in their lifetime. * Raw magic: sentient beings can use their Pulse directly, without channelling it through other forms of spell-casting, but this often results in weaker more unstable spells. Some objects though, can be cursed in order to increase their Pulse, which allows the wielder to harness much more raw magic with much greater precision. * Light and Dark Magic: some specific patterns in the flow of magic are associated with the Ether or the Abyss. Weaving these patterns can connect any object to one of the those two higher planes, which then allows any sentient being that is part of that plane (typically Daemons) to control said object. This kind of magic can be channeled using any technique, but Daemons naturally use Verbalization since their respective mother tongues are form of said magic and aren't actually used to communicate (they are telepathically linked to each other).